I do not own Jujutsu Kaisen or any of the characters.
Exchange
Shinji walked toward the rest of the Tokyo students, all of them staring at him in silence. His uniform didn't help. It was mostly a standard one, the only difference being that his right sleeve was short, just long enough to hide the separation between his body and the Curse's arm.
"You're the guy that stopped Todo from killing Megumi," the second-year with green hair in a ponytail and glasses, said.
"Shinji Ichinose," Shinji introduced himself. "You're Maki Zenin, Panda, Toge Inumaki, Nobara Kugisaki, and Megumi Fushigura. With two exceptions, all of you seem weaker than I was expecting. Although, I suppose Inumaki's Cursed Technique qualifies him for about my expectations, so let's call it three."
"Who're you calling weak!?" Kugisaki demanded.
"Impressive that you knew you weren't an exception," Shinji said.
"Did you come here just to pick a fight?" Panda asked.
"No," Shinji said. "I'm a new student here, so I'll be taking part in the exchange event as well."
"Well, we could certainly use you," Maki said. "You're strong enough to handle Todo's strength, or at least a good amount of it, so you'll be useful."
Shinji frowned as he recalled the terms of his admittance. He was not allowed to give any time limits, with the exception of his required weekly one for his Pact, unless it was an absolute last resort, and he got permission from a member of staff. Those rules annoyed him, but they made sense.
"They're here," Maki said.
"Oh, look at this!" The first of the Kyoto students said, this one with short green hair but otherwise bearing an obvious family resemblance to Maki. "You all came out to greet us? Amateurs."
"Okkotsu's not here," Aoi Todo noted, then grinned as he spitted Shinji. "Ah, but you are! Looks like I can see what you're really made of after all!"
"Shut up!" Nobara snapped. "Hurry up and hand over the cake box, and the yatsuhashi, kudzu noodles, and buck wheat cookies!"
"Salmon," Inumaki said.
"You guys hungry?" Todo asked.
"Who is that first-year?" a short blonde with her hair in a pair of rigid, upright pigtails like the tails of a broom, holding a broom in her hands, and wearing a dark blue dress asked. "Badass!"
Shinji was pretty sure Gojo had said her name was Momo Nishimiya.
"Nevermind Okkotsu being absent," a copper robot in a uniform, Ultimate Mechamaru Gojo had called it, said. "Isn't having two, make that three, first-years a major handicap?"
"No way!" Nobara gaped. "A frickin' robot!?"
"I'm only first-year because they wouldn't let me skip a year," Shinji said.
"Age doesn't matter with Jujutsu Sorcerers," a student with black hair tied into two tails in front of his ears said, Shinji recalling his name being Noritoshi Kamo, a third-year. "Especially with Fushiguro. He's from the Zenin bloodline, but he has more talent and potential than the head of the clan."
Mai Zenin glared at him.
"Comment?" Kamo asked.
"Not here," Mai growled.
"Now, now," the next-to last Kyoto student said hurriedly. "Save it for the Exchange Event, you two."
This one, Shinji's eyes hesitated to leave. She had long, light blue hair, her bangs cut at a slant, the hair framing her face cut shorter on one side than the other, a uniform resembling a business suit, and looked partway nervous and partway exhausted by Mai and Kamo's jabs at each other, which meant she probably tried to keep the peace among her fellow students. He was pretty sure her name was Kasumi Miwa.
Okay, now," a more mature, feminine voice called out as the Kyoto student supervisor, Utahime Iori, walked up the stairs behind the Kyoto students, one final student walking behind her. She was dressed like a shrine maiden and had a scar from one side of her face across the bridge of her nose. "Let's not fight amongst ourselves. My goodness, these children."
"Even numbers," Shinji said. "With Aoi Todo on their side, we're gonna get creamed."
"Could you not be so damn pessimistic!?" Nobara snapped.
"I like to consider myself a realist," Shinji said.
"HEEEYYY!" Gojo's voice shouted suddenly. "Sorry for the wait!"
Iori clicked her tongue. "Satoru Gojo."
Shinji rolled his eyes. Late as always. However, he was pushing a large metal cart, which Shinji suspected contained Itadori, and there was a pink, person-shaped dolls piled on top of it.
"Hey, I see everyone's together!" Gojo said, skidding to a stop between the members of the two schools, not spilling a single doll. "Don't mind me. I was on a business trip overseas! But it's alright because I brought souvenirs!"
"This is sudden," Fushiguro said.
"Sure it's not jet lag?" Nobara asked.
"Kay, everyone from Kyoto gets this tribal protective charm doll," Gojo said, passing out the dolls to the Kyoto students. "Except you, Utahime!"
"I don't want one!" Iori shrieked in annoyance.
"Now for all you Tokyo peeps, I have this!" Gojo said, spinning with the cart before stopping, one hand on the handle, one gesturing to direct their attention to the box, and one leg raised high in the air behind him. "Tada!"
"It's creepy when adults get all excited," Nobara said.
Finally, the box popped open and Itadori stood. "Hey!"
"It's your departed friend, Yuji Itadori!" Gojo announced.
No one cheered, or welcomed him. In fact, Nobara and Fushiguro both looked almost disgusted that he was alive.
"Alright, then," Gojo said, turning Itadori, who was frozen in the pose he'd taken when he popped out of the crate, toward Kyoto. "And Kyto students, this is Sukuna's vessel, Yuji Itadori!"
The Kyoto students were staring at their dolls.
"Sukuna's vessel lives!?" the Kyoto principal, Yoshinobu Gakuganji, demanded, standing by the stairs in loose purple pants and a white kimono shirt, his age folding his torso forward, his head bald and his eyebrows nearly as long as his thin, pointy beard. "Just who is behind this outrage!?"
Shinji turned so that his arm was opposite himself from Gakuganji, glancing at Tokyo's principal, who stood at Gakuganji's side.
As Gojo went to speak with the principals, and Nobara and Fushiguro went to talk to Itadori, Shinji glanced around, grinning when he saw his surprise for Itadori was ready.
"Oh, by the way, Itadori," Shinji said, everyone turning to him. "Allow me to show you how a real surprise works."
"A real surprise?" Itadori asked.
Shinji twirled his finger in the air in front of himself, and Itadori frowned for a moment before turning and looking back, mouth falling open. There, wearing a uniform and fully restored, stood Junpei. Itadori let out a sobbing cheer and all but tackled Junpei, who laughed, forcing him to let him stand before greeting him happily.
"How?" Itadori managed to choke out.
"I had about a second to spare by the time I got there," Shinji said. "Plenty of time. How do you feel, Junpei?"
"I'm fully rested," Junpei smiled. "Thanks again for saving me, Shinji, and I'm really sorry, Itadori."
Itadori shook his head. "It wasn't your fault. It was that bastard Mahito!"
"Uh, no, heh," Junpei rubbed the back of his head. "I actually meant that...I'm sorry for having to compete against you."
"Having to what now?" Itadori asked.
"Well, I'm now a Tokyo student, like you and Shinji, but with you, me, and Shinji added to the sides, the numbers weren't even, so the principals agreed to have me fill in a spot on their side," Junpei said.
Itadori gaped at him in betrayal as Nobara leaned over to Shinji.
"Who's this kid?" Nobara asked.
"He's a friend of Itadori's that Itadori was trying to save from a Special Grade Curse with as much reason and intelligence as any human, but a complete psychopath," Shinji explained. "Itadori succeeded, but only just in time for the Curse to nearly kill Junpei. Itadori's just now finding out Junpei survived."
Nobara nodded. A few minutes later, they had had the first part of the two-day event explained to them, heading to a secluded area in their dorms to meet and discuss strategy.
Shinji narrowed his eyes as Gojo announced the start of the first task. They were tasked with exercising as many Curses as they could, aiming for a Grade 2 somewhere in the training area, but they were free to battle it out with the other school's team members if they felt so inclined, which at least Aoi Todo would definitely do. They began to run, but no sooner had they agreed to stick to the original group's plan did Aoi Todo explode out of the trees ahead of them, skidding to a stop and grinning at them.
"You're all together!" Todo grinned. "Now come at me, all at once!"
"Itadori!" Shinji said, exploding forward, Itadori just behind him.
"Right!" Itadori nodded.
A moment later, both threw a punch, Todo allowing them to explode into his face, though neither used Cursed Energy, and as a result, despite exploding into a tree, the only mark left was a faintly pink hue to his cheeks. Todo chuckled, allowing the rest of the team to scatter.
"Ready?" Shinji asked.
"Yeah," Itadori nodded.
Todo chuckled. "He's got as much power as that arm of yours," Todo chuckled. "No, even more, and his is his entire body. Alright, since you two didn't hold much as far as physical abilities are concerned, I'll return the favor! Act like your life's at stake!"
Then, Todo's first drilled through a low-class cursed spirit that they'd noticed before a second before exploding into Itadori's arms, sending him flying. Shinji spun, throwing a punch, but Todo caught his wrist, then shoved him away.
"Block this!" Todo shouted.
Shinji's Cursed Energy flared to life just in time to keep Todo from punching completely through his arm, flying backward even further than Itadori had. He groaned as he pushed himself up, only to look to the sky, eyes widening as he saw the Kyoto blonde staring down at Itadori, one hand held to her ear.
"Trap!" he hissed, exploding forward again, focusing his Cursed Energy into his entire body, as he'd felt his Curse half do countless times but could never master himself. As he arrived, Itadori avoided several surprise shots from a pistol, courtesy of Mai. He ran into Kasumi Miwa's Simple Domain, only to still manage to evade her strike, despite the domain meaning that she could strike literally anything in the diameter of the domain. Shinji hummed thoughtfully as he realized she'd hesitated. As Itadori landed, Ultimate Mechamaru appeared ahead of him, his fingers and palm opening to reveal a small opening, which began to glow with Cursed Energy. Shinji landed in between the two, a scarlet sphere of Cursed Energy spiraling into existence in his palm. Then, just before anyone between the two of them, Mai with her pistol, or Kamo with his bow could fire, someone clapped and Kamo and Itadori had suddenly swapped places.
"This is..." Kamo gasped.
"You'd better fire, Mechamaru!" Shinji warned, his sphere of Cursed Energy erupting into a massive beam.
Mechamaru instinctively fired his own attack, and when the two blasts met, they erupted into a massive explosion, only for the concussion to continue away from Shinji, hurling Mechamaru.
"Hey," Todo snarled, then punched at Kamo, only for him to evade it, barely. "I told you I'd kill you if you interfered, didn't I?"
"No, you didn't!" Kamo said. "You said you'd kill us if we ordered you around!"
"Same thing!" Todo snapped. "Piss off!"
Kamo sighed, walking past Todo, only to pause. "Make sure you kill him."
"That depends on Itadori," Todo said. "Don't order me around."
Shinji glanced at Todo, then sighed "I'll leave Itadori to you, and deal with the rest of your team." He frowned, looking around. "No Junpei? Then he's after the Grade Two Curse."
"You held out on me," Todo said.
"It wouldn't have made a difference," Shinji said. "You'd crush me in a real fight."
He walked away from Todo, heading for Kasumi Miwa, who knelt, readying herself to draw her sword. Mai spun, firing, only for Shinji's right hand to snap up, catching the bullet, then drop it.
"You had a Simple Domain in place and yet you still missed," Shinji said. "You hesitated."
Kasumi looked around, realizing everyone but she and Todo had left already. "I have nothing to say to you!"
"I'm guessing you have orders to destroy Sukuna's vessel, probably you were told he wasn't a real human," Shinji said. "Am I close?"
Kasumi hesitated before steeling her gaze. "If you want answers, fight me for it."
Shinji smiled, nodding, and formed a katana from Cursed Energy. His eyes flicked over Kasumi's body, taking in her posture and predicting her first strike while also taking a heartbeat to appreciate the curves of her body before he shot forward. As soon as he entered the range of her Simple Domain, her sword flashed around, crashing into his and deflecting away from himself. Her eyes widened, but before she could strike again, he shouldered into her, knocking her backward several feet and dispelling her Simple Domain. Then, they both began to strike rapidly, their blades clashing over and over in showers of sparks and particles of Cursed Energy of comparable size. Their blades struck again and again in a blur, first as they stood motionless, then as they began to dodge around each other as they fought, then as they began to sprint away from Itadori and Todo's battle.
Shinji leapt over a strike, landing on the side of a tree, then leapt at her, slashing, only for her to deflect the blade, allowing the power behind his strike to throw her, landing at a sprint. Within seconds, he caught up with her and their blades clashed several more times before both jumped forward, landing on a tree just as their blades crashed, then stopped, dropping to the ground as Todo's voice echoed through the forest.
"WRONG! ! !"
"Something tells me he's not thrilled with Itadori's skills," Shinji sighed, then raised his sword in a flash, deflecting Kasumi's blade over himself.
And just like that, they were dueling again. Time and again, they pressed one another onto the defensive and back, constantly shifting the momentum and advantage of the battle. And yet, Shinji could see in Kasumi's eyes that she knew he was holding back, and that she was enjoying herself. Not out of a sadistic love of fighting, like Todo, but out of an honest enjoyment of being challenged without being humiliated. Of being pushed to the limit and tested, but not thrust brutally into place. And yet, the more he pressed her, the harder he leaned into that wall at the end of her abilities, the harder she pushed back. Something was genuinely driving her, but it definitely wasn't a desire to hurt anyone.
"Why do you fight?" Shinji asked.
Kasumi hesitated out of surprise, and Shinji stopped with his blade against her throat, then stepped back, resetting, Kasumi doing the same. Then, as they resumed their fight, she spoke again.
"I want to rank up as fast as I can to earn some money!" Kasumi said.
"I see," Shinji nodded, ducking under her blade and spinning, slashing at her, only for her to flip over it and slash at him, Shinji once again ducking aside. "For you?"
"And my younger siblings!" Kasumi said, spinning in a blur and slashing, forcing him back a step before sheathing her sword.
Shinji sensed her Cursed Energy building inside the sheath as well as sensing her Simple Domain form. He crouched, readying himself for a moment before exploding forward. Her Simple Domain wasn't what he'd expected. It allowed her to strike based off of pure muscle reaction, allowing for less of a delay, and then with the Cursed Energy building in her sword, her sword would move even faster. It allowed for a near-instantaneous strike, but it wasn't guaranteed. So, as he stepped into the area, he slashed downward to meet her strike. The one downside of instinctive strikes was that they were usually predictable. Kasumi's technique was no different, and her blade clashed against his before his free hand caught her hilt and he spun, throwing her but keeping the blade. She crashed down hard and he held his blade to her throat.
"Wow," Kasumi sighed. "You're amazing. I was kind of looking down on you at first because you're a first-year, but you're definitely a lot stronger than that." She sighed, then beckoned him closer.
He knelt, passing her sword back to her, and she leaned in to whisper.
"Our principal ordered Itadori's execution," she whispered, speaking quickly. "He said no one would care because he's not really a human, but the order didn't sit right with me. That's why I hesitated. I didn't want to kill anyone."
"I know," he said, offering her his hand. "Let's go and find some Cursed Spirits to kill, shall we?"
Her eyes widened before she smiled, nodding, and accepted his help up. They turned, running through the trees together and looking around carefully. Finally, they spotted a pair of spider-like Cursed Spirits, like what had slightly shielded Itadori from Todo's first punch, but just as Kasumi raced forward to kill them, Shinji shot past her, jumping between them and placing his palms against them. Both flashed, scarlet Cursed Energy bursting from their bodies all over before they all but exploded. Kasumi froze, gaping at them.
"Gotta be quicker than that," Shinji grinned back at her.
"How did you..." she stared at him.
"I forced a small amount of my own Cursed Energy into their bodies," Shinji explained. "The invading Cursed Energy isn't compatible with their bodies, so their bodies and their own Cursed Energy reject it so violently that it actually rips their bodies apart. And that's true no matter how powerful the Cursed Spirit. The only difference is how much Cursed Energy it takes. However, I also can't do it in the middle of battle, because it requires concentration, and for their own Cursed Energy to not be flowing as much as it would be in battle. It's useless as a battle technique, but as a surprise attack, it's highly effective."
"You're...not a rookie, are you?" Kasumi asked.
"No," Shinji said. "Though, I'm going to keep my former employment a secret, at least for now."
Kasumi nodded, staring at her sword. "You're so powerful. All I can do is fight with a sword, and even that..."
"Hey," Shinji said. "If it makes you feel better, you were never going to beat me, but you are really powerful. It's just that my Cursed Technique is somewhere between a Grade One and Special Grade Curse. It's my abilities that lower my own grade."
Kasumi shook her head. "Your abilities are horrifyingly effective." She looked around. "I doubt we'll actually stumble on the Grade Two Cursed Spirit, but I believe we were hunting."
"That we were," Shinji nodded, smiling.
They turned, continuing to run through the trees, searching as hard as they could for the rest of the Cursed Spirits.
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